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A lot of people will swear by registry cleaners - thier computers would be no more than ugly furniture without them; a lot will say they are tools from Satan, and that if one is used the only option left for the poor computer is an exorcism.

I'm looking for something in between.

Is there a semi-automated way to remove junk from the registry? Something that will show me references to no longer existing programs that I can remove manually if I want too?

For instance, while uninstalling M$ ResourceHog, something happens in the middle of the uninstall that aborts the operation, The program has to be removed from the system manually. There are still registry entries left for ResourseHog. I'd like a program that will allow me to enter the name of a program and then find all remaining registry enties for that program so that they can be removed. Using the registry search function to find and belete entries for programs that no longer exist is tedious, at best. I'd like something to search the egistry and present me with a list of what it found, but only applying to a specific program. Is that clear as mud?

Now, after saying all of that, is it even worth it to bother? How much do bogus registry enties affect performance, etc.? Oh, by the way, this is a standard XP Home edition with all relevant service packs and updates installed.

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The problem with most registry cleaners is that if the user doesn't make a back up of the registry and makes an error because they didn't read or understand the instruction can damage the registry and will require a installation of the OS.

Cleaning up registry entries really will not do much good, and the potential for harm far outweighs what little benefit in operating speed you might receive. I do, however, routinely scan my hard drive for folders that remain after I use "add/delete programs" and erase those, as well as other dregs; while this doesn't directly speed up your computer, it does improve the scanning speed of AV and AS applications, and more directly once you defrag a relatively "clean" hard drive it effects your OS.

My own experience with XP after two years of very hard use, is that doing routine maintenance will avoid any sort of re-installation, and every time I have "cleaned out" my registry (I have experimented twice with cleaners), I have lived to regret it.
Cheers,
John

Having grandkids is God's way of giving you a 2nd chance because you were too busy working your butt off the 1st time aroundDo not send me PMs with problems that should be posted in the forums. Keep it in the forums, so everyone benefits
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